SAO Pokemon Edition
by Lightning-Alchemist-Rini
Summary: Lena and Lana, twin girls separated by the horrific fate that rocked the word after the events of SAO leaving Lena alone. Two years later she is ready to move on and give the online experience a try. PTE or Pokemon the Experience seems the perfect start for a new beginning, if Lena can ever truly move on from the past. A game we'd all love to try given the chance
1. Chapter 1

Crossover between the Pokemon games and SAO since I have a love for both and all things Anime in general. Also will not have Pikachu and Eevee as starters, since I view both Let's Go and Pokemon Yellow as special editions of the games, and I like to go for the more typical starters. :P

Hope you guys enjoy, and remember constructive critiques are fine, they help me improve. Goodness knows I need those. :)

Disclaimer: Do not own neither, nope too poor for that stuff.

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Closing her eyes a moment the girl looked back at her bed, the all too familiar headset resting there. She had been hesitant to try the system after all the news about deaths associated since it's launch, though the press assured people of it's safety now. She could still remember her twin sister Lana so excited about SAO, and how they sat together camped outside in the rain and sun days before it's launch, waiting eagerly just for the chance to get their own copy of the game...and boy was it not cheap.

She remembered being hesitant to try it herself, and Lana eagerly saying she'd give it a go first, then she would fill Lena in if it was any good or not. But...that was when things went horribly wrong.

It was hours before she even realized something was wrong with her sister. Looking up from her book she noted it was now 6pm, 7 hours since she dived, far longer then she said she would be immersed within the game. "Lana?" she shook her slightly. "Are you ok? Lana?" she removed her sister's headgear, a mistake that haunted her to this day.

Shaking herself from these thoughts Lena looked back to the Nervegear before her, and Pokemon Online, or Pokemon The Experience as it was officially called. She was determined to get over her fear of this, if nothing else then to move on from the past. Hands shaking she sat on her bed and placed the headgear in place. "This is for Lana. Please...don't let anything bad happen."

Lena laid back, staring blankly at he ceiling a moment through the orange visor that covered her eyes, before closing them. "Link Start."

There was a blinding flash as she appeared in a room, a keyboard before her, with a screen displaying 'Player Name'. There was a blank model next to those words that she assumed was to design her player avatar. First things first...she gave it a bit of thought and typed in; 'Amber' before beginning the long task of creating a personal style for her new alias.

Once the task was done she was asked to look into a mirror and accept the changes. Glancing at her Avatar, Amber gasped. "I'm so...cute." Looking back at her was a 18 year old blond, her hair pulled into a wavy ponytail, bangs long and parted on each side, going down to her chin and framing her Amber colored eyes. She was impressed by the large amount of clothing available as well, from skirts of varying lengths, to dresses, shorts, and pants. She however choose a white vest with a pokeball design over a long sleeved blue shirt, the vest ending just below her breasts, and a black frilled skirt, the length just above her knees, with a pair of long white socks and blue sneakers. A blue and white baseball hat was on her head, with black lettering of PTE just over the brim.

Clicking accept Amber then found herself in a large city, Cosmos City if she recalled the information she was presented with upon purchase. It was a large metropolis of a city with people and pokemon everywhere. She saw a trainer with a Poliwrath, another with a Pikachu, and a few trainers were even sitting at an outdoor cafe with a Furfrou at their feet, it's fur trimmed up into a heart shape.

Amber stood there in awe until she heard the sound of honking and realized she was standing idly in the middle of the street. "Sorry, sorry." she apologized frantically and moved to stand under a shops overhang, advertising 'Pokepuffs! All new varieties and flavors'.

"Your new right?"

"Excuse me?" Amber glanced to her side to see a boy, no a man in a red shirt and jeans, a blue cap on his black hair with the same PTE lettering as her's. "You can tell." she blushed at her inexperience.

"Yea, you were gaping like a Magikarp out of water." he laughed at her startled face, before holding out a hand "I'm David by the way, everyone just calls me Dave though."

Amber held out her own smaller hand. "Amber...as I'm called here anyway."

Dave shook her hand briskly before pulling away and pointing in the opposite direction. "You're going to need the lab if you want a pokemon. Go straight, then take the next two lefts and it's the large building on the right. Can't miss it. Oh and there are two classes of trainers you need to choose from, Challengers and Diva's. Challengers take on gyms, and aim to challenge the Elite 4, and Divas compete in Contests."

"Right." Amber ran a few steps ahead and jogging in place turned back. "Thanks Dave, I mean it." she gave a quick wave and ran ahead, barely managing to avoid a Glameow and a trash bin, before following his directions. "This place sure is busy...hope I'm going the right way."

She turned down the next street and gasped. "He wasn't kidding about the Lab, holy cow."

Just across from her was a large cylindrical building, white in color and around eight floors tall, near the top was a large virtual monitor with the Professor himself, a burly man with a scruffy looking face and lab coat. He was speaking aloud, while indicating a chart next to him. "Unlike in other games, PTE prides itself in allowing all players to choose from every available starter, not just the initial three. Grass, Water or Fire...whichever you choose it will be certain to provide you with boundless opportunities to grow as trainer and partner. Welcome to the world of pokemon."

Amber found herself clapping, along with a few other new trainers standing before the lab, before they enters together to stand before a large reception desk, a long line of monitors before them. "We don't meet the Professor?" she asked another girl in line in front of her, feeling a touch disappointed it wasn't more like the games, where the Professor personally handed the new trainer their first monster.

"Are you kidding me?" the girl rolled her eyes, and flicked her brown hair over one shoulder. "The Professor is a busy man, he's like Mayor important. He can't see hundreds of new trainers that come in everyday."

"Oh...sorry." Amber sheepishly apologized. "I...didn't know. This is my first dive."

"Tch." the girl clicked her tongue. "Just swipe the monitor ahead, it'll list each beginner pokemon and what area they originally came from, as well as beginning moves and stats."

It was a slow wait as each person approached the screen, swiping their trainer card, before being presented with pictures of Bulbsaur, Torchic, Chespin, Scorbunny, Snivy and others. During that time she tossed around the decision of which starter to choose. It really came down to stats in the end, and several pokemon were more appealing to her then others. Torchic was cute, and got some pretty nice moves as it evolved, then there was Piplup or Cyndaquil...

Stepping up next Amber swiped her finger over the screen. "Hmm...Chikorita, grass type. Originally hails from the Johto region. Known moves...Tackle, growl and razor leaf...Tepig, Sinnoh...tackle, tail whip and ember. Then there's...oh I'll choose this one." she hit accept.

"Would you like to name the newly acquired female Charmander?"

Amber clicked yes, thought for a moment and typed. 'Cynder'. A red and white pokeball appeared from something that looked like a computer disc drive and she picked it up, backing away so the next person could take her place, before wondering outside and releasing her first pokemon. It sparkled lightly as Cynder appeared, causing several people nearby to gasp.

"You saw that right?"

"That's seriously lucky."

"Oh maaan...she sucks."

"Talk about first luck."

Amber glanced around then back to the Charmander, who was gazing up at her expectantly. She was a beautiful golden color, sparkling slightly under the sun, not the normal orange. She felt an arm go around her shoulder and looked back to see Dave grinning at her. "Are shiny pokemon common here?"

"Nope." Dave shook a finger at her and slowly lead her away from the crowd forming. "The devs actually increased the shiny ratio. Said too many people getting them made shiny pokemon less valuable here, wanted them to be something really special you know? So they increased the ratio from 1/4096 to 1/9042. It's incredible odds, so you almost never see them now, but it can happen, and you my friend just proved that."

Cynder had followed the two of them silently and now stared up at her. "A super rare pokemon huh? I think I'm going to enjoy this game." she took Cynder's pokeball and quickly returned her. "But for now I need to get back to the real world, I'm beat. Can I ask you more about this world if I see you again?"

"Sure thing." Dave gave her a cheeky two finger salute. "Here." he swiped a finger across the air just as a friend request popped up in her face.

Hesitating only a moment Amber clicked accept. "Thanks Dave, see ya later." she logged out right after, breathing a sigh of relief as the familiar sights of her room greeted her eyes and she slowly sat up in bed. "I was worried for a bit what happened 2 years ago would start again, but I'm here and I'm safe. Just my normal self again...who is going to be late for work if she doesn't get dressed soon!"

Lena leapt to her feet and begin dressing in black pants and a white dress shirt, before grabbing her apron draped over the back of her bed. She was only a trainee at a local restaurant, but she hoped one day she could be a professional chief. Professional Chiefs couldn't be late however, so she quickly slipped on her shoes and jolted from her small apartment at a fast sprint, just barely remembering to rush back and lock the door before barely making it to the bus stop just as the next city bus arrived.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok think I am off to a decent start so far. Just to make one thing clear however, I am not a great writer, nor will I probably ever be. I took some time away from fanfiction to try and improve, and have been told occasionally when I write cannon characters they read like oc's. Not my fault, to me they sound like they do in the show, game, exc...I tend to try to imagine the character doing/saying something before I write it. Now if you can overlook some minor faults and try to enjoy the story for what it is please read ahead. :P

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the character's, setting or the like from SAO or Pokemon.

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Back in the real world Lena was scrubbing dishes after hours at the Restaurant she worked for, a place called Amaretto's. They had cute pastries at one end they sold separately and the main more expensive restaurant she worked for. Still in college she was doing her apprenticeship under the main chief here, and he certainly put her through her paces, grilling her over every little detail of each meal.

Her mind however was back in PTE, she didn't need to completely concentrate on the task at hand, and was just going through the same motions she did almost every night. Submerge the plate and scrub vigorously, rinse, dry, and stack on the shelf behind her. It was all automatic at this point, like a well maintained program, doing what it's creator preprogrammed.

Why me? Out of everyone there why was it me that ended up with a shiny starter? It could have been anyone else, and it's not like the odds were in my favor or anything else. The looks everyone gave me...no I didn't like it one bit. I'm going to have to be careful no one finds out who I am here, some of those looks were pretty hostile.

"Ouch." Lena glanced down to where she was washing and sanitizing a knife and realized she had slightly nicked her right index finger. Looking around to make sure her boss was nowhere in sight she quickly finished her shift and took a small band aid from the first-aid kit.

"Ok I'm out for tonight, Noah, Ethan." she waved to her two remaining coworkers who were supposed to be sweeping, but were looking at something on Noah's phone. "What's so..."

"Check this out," Noah interrupted her. "Some girl actually beat the PTE odds and landed herself a shiny starter."

Lena laughed nervously. "Oh really...that...so?"

Both guys exchanged looks with each other as she took the chance to quickly step outside, drawing in a deep breath, and staring up at the city sky. Lots of stores had already shut down, but that just meant the nightclubs were open now, and brightly lit and shining.

She waited eagerly for the bus, though her heart was racing. Logging back into the game when she returned meant seeing Cynder again, but part of her was still worried what happened with SAO could happen with PTE. She shook those thought from her mind as the bus appeared, and motioned an older lady to go ahead of her, before taking a seat, her fists clinched in her lap tightly. Lena found herself staring blankly out the window, so much in fact she actually missed her stop and had to walk several streets back to her apartment.

"I'm really a wreck tonight aren't I?" Lena unlocked her room on the fourth floor before leaning against her wall and staring at her small room. There was a tiny kitchen/living area, a door to the back leading to a small balcony, and a short hallway with a bathroom barely large enough to hold her walk in shower, toilet, and sink, to the far back of the hallway was her room, enough space to hold a small bed and desk, her closet was where she kept all her clothing.

Closing her door she walked into her room and stared at the poster on her wall. It was of a Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, and a light blue background. "Guess it's time to face the music." she walked over to her bed and immediately slipped on her headset before laying down and shutting her eyes. "Link start."

Appearing right where she left off outside the plaza there were several gasps that met her arrival. Ignoring the stares Amber marched boldly to a nearby Poke Mart, more to get away from the stares that seemed to follow her everywhere now, though she did need some supplies before heading out anyway. She had...2000P to her name if she recalled correctly, the amount all new players began with.

"Can I help you Miss?" a brown haired shopkeeper greeted her as she approached the counter. He was dressed in a blue shirt and pants with a pokeball logo on the shirt with PTE across it, and a bright blue bandanna tied back behind his head. A screen appeared before him and in Amber's view with several items. Normal Pokeballs were 100P, Greatballs were 200P, and Ultraballs were 400P. The shop also sold potions, antidotes, repels, lures, a few high priced fishing poles, pokedolls, and even clothing for both Trainer and Pokemon, though the variety was limited here to hats, the best items sold in specialty shops.

Lena touched her finger to the screen and choose 3 pokeballs, 2 potions, a repel, and a small red scarf that increased accuracy for Cynder. "I'll take these if it's ok?"

"That will be 1,200P please?" the store clerk indicated the screen before her again, where her total was now tallied. "Would you like to watch the tutorial on how to catch and battle Pokemon?"

"No thanks." she shook her head and confirmed her purchases, the items instantly appearing in her game you choose a backpack or bag items would appear there too, but they were clunky and she preferred her look without one.

Keeping to the side streets to avoid people staring at her Amber eventually found the exit to the large city. The entire city was contained within a large wall with paved streets for cars, and startlingly clean sidewalks that lead to a large brass gate with a large forest in the distance, and surrounded by fields of standing grass, some of which she could already see trainers battling wild pokemon, and eagerly she approached, showed her game card and was allowed to pass.

"Let's see...there are too many trainers there, and there." Lena scanned the area and finally decided to head towards a more secluded area near the forest. "If I remember correctly there are supposed to be Pidgey, Sentret, Tallow, Caterpie, Poocheyena, Purrloin, Bunnary, and Fletchling outside the forest with more bug types within. She summoned her Charmander in a bright sparkle effect and knelled before her, holding out the scarf she purchased earlier.

"Charmander?"

"Oh wow, you really do say your name...cute." she shook her head from those thoughts and tied the red scarf over the golden lizard's neck, the red in stark contrast to the gold. "This will ensure your attacks hit, and we'll need your firepower in the upcoming fights. Sound good Cynder?"

"Char char!" Cynder leapt up and down eagerly.

Amber patted her on the head and stood. "Ready to find a new friend Cynder?" Lena pointed to a patch of grass, just as a Purrloin appeared. "Well...that's convenient isn't it?"

Cynder jumped in front of Amber as if ready to protect her at a moments notice. A health bar appeared over both pokemon along with the words 'wild Pokemon battle'. "Char charmander!"

Amber thought for a moment. "Cynder knows...scratch, growl and ember. Cynder scratch it!"

Her pokemon ran at the opposing one and released a three clawed scratch across it's chest, to which Purrloin responded with twisting it's body around, and retaliating with a scratch of it's own, it missed as Cynder dodged proudly to the side waiting for another attack to be called.

"Keep scratching it Cynder, knock it down!"

Cynder and the Purrloin traded blows, one after another, the fire type quickly dodging the majority of the enemies attacks. Her pokemon ducked under one such blow and caught the sassy cat type in the gut, causing it to teeter on it's feet. This was the sign Amber had been waiting for as she eyed it's health bar, which was just turning red.

"Cynder, come back!" Amber called her pokemon back to her side, and readied a red and white sphere. "Ok. let's do this." she gave the pokeball a hard toss, hitting the Purrloin firmly on it's side, and causing said pokemon to be enveloped in a bright flash of red light, before being pulled within the confines of the pokeball. The ball cluttered back to the grass and shook twice before it ceased moving with a loud 'PING'! Even as the ball sat there unmoving Amber could only stare in disbelief. "I...I caught it. I really did didn't I Cynder?"

"Charmander." Cynder tilted her head at her trainer curiously. "Char charmander?"

Amber slowly walked up and picked up her new catch, a capture screen appearing before her with Purrloin's information. Purrloin steal from trainers for fun by putting on a cute ruse, this pokemon attacks with it's sharp claws. She clicked through it's stats next. "Lets see...Limber...ok. He is male and knows both scratch and growl. We can work on his move arsenal later...nickname? Hmm...Trickster sounds nice, and it goes along with his Pokedex entry. She confirmed her new pokemon was indeed male before accepting the name.

"Ready to head into the forest for some extensive training Cynder?" Amber reached down and placed her partner on her shoulder. "I'd like to get you to lv 10 soon, and our new buddy Trickster as well."

Cynder stood on her shoulder, holding onto Amber's head with her claws. "Char mander char charmander."

Amber laughed and gave her a quick pat. "I'll take that as a yes then."

It took hours but finally exhausted both Amber, and her pokemon Cynder and Trickster sat back for a well earned rest. They had fought bugs like Caterpie, Cascoon, and Kricketot, as well as grass types like Pansage and Oddish. All three currently say on an overturned log watching pokemon spawn and interact with one another, listened to the sound of the wind in the trees, and the sounds of a nearby stream.

Trickster had reached lv 6 and learned Assist, and Cynder now knew Smokescreen after reaching lv10.

"So guys...I was thinking about challenging the gyms here. I know there are contests too for Diva's and those sound fun, but I think we can get more out of PTE's gym's. What do you two think?" she turned to grin at her team.

"Chamander!"

"Purrr Purrloin!"

Both pokemon jumped before her and gave Amber the equivalent of a thumbs up, for them anyway. She knelled down hugging the two tightly. "Thank you...honestly I don't think I'd still be here if it weren't for you."

The sun was beginning to set as she made camp in the forest, assuming other players were doing the same. She was surprised no other player had challenged her yet, but also rather relieved as it gave her time to try and prepare a strategy ahead of time. She set up a sleeping blanket and motioned to her pokemon to lie down.

"I'm going to log out, but I promise I'll be back soon. You guys keep an eye out ok?" Amber brought up the menu, her finger hovering over Logout. "Tomorrow we'll clear this forest and head for the next city."


	3. Chapter 3

Ok starting to get even more into this now, and debating adding in a few SAO and Alfheim characters or not, or I may try hinting they are here. We'll see as this goes on, though if I do add them in it may not be for a few more chapters. :)

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon nor SAO.

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"So your the girl with the shiny Charmander right?" a guy appearing around her age with short blue hair, spiked up and the underside black pointed his index finger Amber's way. "Oh yea..course you are. Everyone is talking about you. Let's have a little match and see where I stand against the girl with all the luck?"

Amber had made her way around halfway through the forest, collecting berries as the went when this guy had ambushed her, leaping from a tree. "Umm...sure ok."

The two trainers faced one another and each drew a pokeball, Amber noting he had three to her two.

"Let's go Beedrill!" he summoned his first pokemon.

"Charmander?" Cynder asked as Amber shook her head.

"Not yet." she waved her pokemon back and tossed out Trickster's pokeball, the pokemon appearing in a bright flash of light, and already taking up a battle stance. "So who first?"

"I'm a nice guy, ladies first." he motioned her on.

"Alright, Trickster start off with growl." Amber called her first move, causing the cat pokemon to raise his fur as he growled like...well an angry cat, cutting Beedrill's attack slightly.

"Please...I let you go first and that's all you got." the boy shrugged, then sighed. "Whatever. Beedrill use Fury Attack!"

Beedrill flew at Trickster, causing him to stand on his hind legs as he backed away from the duel stingers on the bug's arms. Beedrill stabbed repeatedly at the cat, one of it's stingers catching Trickster under his left eye, and causing him to back away and bat at his eye.

Amber tisked under her breath as her pokemon's health dipped by 30%. "Keep Calm Trickster and use Assist."

Trickster drew in a huge breath as Beedrill approached and let fly with Ember, hitting the bug square on with a super effective move, and draining 60% of it's health immediately.

"Shoot, but we're not done yet." the guy smiled at Amber. "Use Poison Sting!"

"Use Scratch!"

Both attacks collided, and both hit their mark, Scratch scoring a critical hit, and taking Beedrill out as his trainer returned him. Trickster winced in pain, having been poisoned by Beedrill and Amber returned him as well.

"Want to continue?" the blue haired boy asked her, taking out his next pokeball.

"I'm ready when you are."

"Go, Chimchar!" he tossed out what Amber assumed was his starting pokemon, leaving Amber with a firefight on her hand as she only had Cynder left.

"Ok Cynder, you ready?" she glanced down at her partner.

"Charmander!" her golden lizard ran out to stand before her.

Both fire types stood menacingly before each other, both awaiting their trainer's command.

"Chimchar, use Ember!"

"Cynder, you use Ember too!"

Both attacks collided midway causing a shower of sparks. They both seemed to have similar attacks, at this level anyway, and with them both as fire types it seemed more likely then not a stalemate would be reached. It would take some difficult thinking on Amber's part to even whittle down Chimchar's health any at all.

"Scratch!" they both called at the same moment.

Both attacks simultaneously collided in midair as both pokemon leapt for one another. Time almost seemed to slow to a crawl as both passed one another before landing opposite the other, and holding their position for several moments. Chimchar made a slight grimace before slowly falling over to his side, as Amber was left staring in awe.

"I won...?"

"Not quite." the blue haired youth smirked at her. "You do recall I have three Pokemon right?" he recalled his starter, and stood with a third pokeball spinning on the tip of his index finger.

Amber gulped and stared at her pokemon who was already breathing hard. "Can you keep going?" her pokemon's health was still halfway, but she also had no idea what the boy before her would use next, if it was a water type she was screwed.

"Char...man." Cynder shook his head and stared back at her with a determined face. "Charmander!"

"Alright then...guess my bluff didn't work so well." he sighed and tossed out his last pokeball, as the light faded revealing a tiny Oddish. "This is actually all I have left. All she really knows is Absorb, Growth, and Sweet Scent."

Amber blinked a few times and immediately burst into a fit of giggles. "Seriously...and here I was thinking you had some dragon or something."

Both stared at each other a moment.

"Oh fine, whatever." Amber rubbed her forehead. "Cynder use Ember!"

The Oddish's eyes slowly traveled up to where it's leaf was now a flaming candle. "Odd-ish?" There was a moment's pause where everyone stared at his pokemon. "ODDISH!" the small plant type begin running back and forth, tears streaming from her eyes as she flame burned, before finally dying out as she collapsed to her side, obviously out for the count.

"This always happens with her." her trainer recalled the pokemon before approaching Amber and bringing up his screen. "Guess I'll have to transfer 100P to you for this."

"Actually I have another idea." Amber placed a hand over his to halt the transaction. "Do you think you could just give me Oddish and we'll call it even?"

"You actually want her?" the guy blinked in confusion. "I'm telling you she's completely useless. You'd be better off taking the Poke'."

"I know." Amber grinned. "But I've always had a thing for hard luck cases."

"Your loss then...I guess." he brought up another screen showing Oddish's data and selected transfer. "Just to let you know, in PTE a pokemon can be traded to another player in exchange for another pokemon, but in the case of defeat a trainers pokemon can be given in leu of Poke' instead...it's a new mechanic they implemented in this latest edition."

"Yea...I already know this duh. I was the one who asked for your pokemon after all." Amber sighed and held out her hand.

"Oh...right yea." the boy blushed. "I guess you actually played the tutorial, unlike me." he held out Oddish's pokeball.

Amber's name immediately registered as Oddish's trainer, unlike former games where it would retain it's original trainers name and ID, PTE allowed the traded Pokemon to be fully taken on by a new trainer, including new nickname if desired. A small window popped up in front of Ambers face.

Nickname the Oddish you received?

"You going to give her a nickname?" Amber had to shove his face to the side as he was peering onto her screen. "Hey!"

"A little privacy please." she thought it over a moment. "I have Trickster and Cynder...so...Lills."

"Err...Lills? You'll need to explain that one?" the guy asked confused.

"Lillypad...maybe?" Amber asked then thought it over some more. "Sunni...that's it. I'll name her Sunni."

"Ok I'll even admit I like that one. Lills or Lilly would actually sound better for a Lotad or something." he nodded his head and turned to see Amber off in the distance, heading towards the next town. "Don't walk away when someone is speaking to you!"

Amber grinned as the boy shouted and yelled obscenities behind her. "Pokemon certainly has gotten more colorful over the years."

"Charmander." Cynder nodded in agreement behind her.

"Oh...I should probably return you right?" she held out Cynder's pokeball, and her pokemon dogged the beam of light. "Err...Cynder? Come on, you know how much attention you get when people see you."

"Char charmander char char." her pokemon walked up to her and amazingly began clinging to Amber's leg as she shook it vigorously.

"Oh come on!"

"Charmander!"

"Please?"

"Mander!"

"Look I can't just...ok fine. Just this once though alright?" Amber sighed and put his pokeball away, before withdrawing a map. "Let's see...Looks like Sandervill City is next. According to this information it's supposed to be a city filled with nobles and one of the oldest cities in this region. This means they should have some really neat architecture."

"Charmander?"

"Trust me, it'll be fun." Amber reached down and lifted the fire lizard onto her shoulder and begin walking, eventually reaching the forest's exit after maybe an hour, and stood shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight, reflected from the massive city. "Wow...there was nothing like this in the previous games."

"Charman..."

There before Amber stood buildings maybe 15 floors tall, some were malls and others offices, and one a massive cinema. If she thought the first city was huge, it was nothing compared to what lay before her now. Instead of cars lining the streets, the entire place looked flooded, massive canals stretched between and around buildings with small cafe's lining the banks. There were boats of all kinds traversing the canals, one of them long and contained a man in the rear with a large oar and four trainers laughing and carrying on within, even the cafe's were lined with trainers. It seemed the npc's were only shopkeepers, pokemon center attendants, and the majority of office workers, even a few children scattered around the city seemed to be npc's.

Adjusting her clothing Amber walked boldly into the city, reminding herself no one knew her here, and it was fine to become a much bolder and more enthusiastic version of herself. She and Cynder strolled in and out of shops all day, browsing specialty pokemon gear, custom pokeballs, shoes, hats, there was even a store that sold rarer pokemon from between 20000P to 80000P. Having only 2000P on her currently she only gave those last shops a passing glance, seeing pokemon like Abra, a white Vulpix, Manectric, Oranguru, Mandabuzz, Bravery, Dratini, and a few actually shiny pokemon, but those were listed for 100,0000P...the majority of players i the game not having nearly that amount to spend on a single pokemon.

"Hungry Cynder?" she asked her partner with a laugh, as she heard a slight rumble near her right ear. "We could get something from one of those Cafe's we passed earlier?"

"Char!" he held a claw in the air happily and begin nuzzling her cheek. "Charmander char!"

"Ok, ok I get it. That tickles." Amber begin giggling as she walked to a nice cafe, with large umbrella's over the two person tables. "Can I get a glass of Mago lemonade and some ...spicy, and sweet pokepuffs?"

"That will be...45P please?" the npc greeted her with a warm smile before writing down her order and taking her Poke. "You can sit anywhere that's open."

Once the food was brought to her table, she took out both Trickster and Sunni's pokeballs, releasing them before lifting Trickster into her lap. "I...actually had something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Purrloin?"

Taking a deep breathe Amber continued. "I know evolving is a natural thing for pokemon, and I know asking this may make me seem like...stuck up, a snob, or not caring about your feelings. Thing is I am asking because I do care, and I can push my own feelings aside...but see I have this strategy and it involves you staying as a Purrloin...at least for now. It's not that I hate your evolution, I just wanted to speed train you."

Trickster stood on his hind legs, and held a paw under his head, seeming to take the matter seriously before looking at her. "Puuuurrr loin purrlon pur purrloin. Purrlon purrloin purrr loin."

"Well..I do have this." Amber withdrew an everstone from her bag. "It was a little pricy, and I can return it if you want to evolve."

Trickster waved a paw nonchalantly. "Purrr purloin."

"Is it really ok?" Amber asked, then sighed in relief at the cat's nod. "Thanks Trickster, I promise you won't regret this." she slipped the everstone into a beaded necklace, before slipping it around his neck. There was a slight glow as he hopped down and actually looked pleased by his new look, almost strutting a bit before settling down before a sweet pokepuff and begin eating with the other's.

Amber sipped her lemonade through a bamboo straw as she listened in to a conversation to her left. "Did you hear about the bug affecting gym leaders lately. I heard some others saying it down right freaked them out man."

"Really? What kinda bug they saying is affecting the game?" the two guys conversed as Amber pretended to be interested in the water below her, where a magikarp was actually leaping in and out of the water. "Did the devs say anything about some downtime?"

"No, and that's what is really weird. No one is really talking about it, and anything posted to the forums is immediately taken down. I think they're embarrassed and trying to keep the entire thing under wraps."

"So what is this bug, I mean ...you obviously know something...come on spill it."

"Well they say the gym leaders aren't following the code anymore. Some girl challenged the gym leader in this city and...you won't believe what happened, but when she beat him he actually proposed to her, got down on his knees and everything. I heard she was so mortified she logged out and never came back, then there was this guy a few cities over that challenged a gym there and all the gym trainers mobbed him all at once, not to mention someone is wondering around lately stealing pokemon."

Amber blinked as she leaned closer to hear more and actually tipped over from her seat. "Ahh!"

"Oh wow, are you ok?" the two guys turned to stare at her as she sat up and dusted herself off. "Something wrong?"

"What you were saying...is that really true?" she sat back in her chair and actually scooted closer to the boys, who blinked at each other.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

Amber crossed her arms over her chest. "How rude, I'm sitting near you...though I could hear you even over a herd of Phampy." she pouted her lips and turned her head to the side, playing the part of actually looking insulted.

They glanced at one another again and the one who spoke to her shrugged. "About as true as a rumor can be anyway. I think it's just someone creating some creepypasta to scare people."

"Yea, I think people are still afraid after that scare with SAO and are jumping at ghosts. This new gear is impossible to hack into now. There is no way anyone can die IRL anymore."

Amber frowned slightly before returning her pokemon. "Well thanks for explaining it." she immediately logged out before they could utter another word, already feeling a sick twisted feeling in her gut and planning to research this rumor herself the next morning she had off work. If this was anything dangerous, she wanted to be aware, and stay clear of the game for awhile.

If she had to admit it to herself though, she'd miss her pokemon, they already felt more like family then her real ones, and escaping into the game provided some much needed release from the stress of living day to day.


End file.
